"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."
-- Sinclair Lewis

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Joe Walsh-- The Dream Opponent... But Will He Resign Now?

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Forget for a moment that Joe Walsh is a deranged extremist with the most radical right perspective of almost any Member of Congress (not counting Paul Broun and Allen West). Even forget for a moment, if you can, that Walsh is such an Ayn Rand fanatic that he refused to pay over $100,000 in child support for the three children he abandoned from his first marriage. He's truly a horrible person-- although he constantly tries convincing his constituents he's just an average Joe. When he got evicted from his fancy condo for not paying his mortgage, he claimed he's just like everybody else and voters understand his problems. When he welshed on his campaign debts and refused to pay his staffers for their work, he said the same thing. When it was reported that he has federal and state tax liens for not paying taxes in the '80s and '90s he said he's just like everyone else. But not everyone inherited trust funds from grandpa. When he was pleading poverty and running up $117,437 in missed child support payments, the deadbeat dad of the year was enjoying exotic luxury vacations and loaning his political campaign $35,000. He had the temerity to say that your "average guy" doesn't pay their child support either. Hideous man-- who has suckered the moronic teabaggers who support him.

When he first ran for Congress in 1996 he "positioned himself as a socially liberal Republican who favored abortion rights and gun control measures-- sharp contrasts to the staunchly conservative stances he now holds. "I think I'm the kind of Republican who can win because I'm open and tolerant," Walsh told the Tribune at the time. "I'm not some right-wing conservative." In 2010 he won because he ran against a hated corporate Democrat and Chamber of Commerce shill, Melissa Bean, a victim of that years' Great Blue Dog Apocalypse." Having taken expensive acting lessons at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in both NYC and L.A., he decided to play the role of teabagger next. It fit him well.

He also decided to stop paying for car insurance-- typical behavior of Ayn Rand type sociopaths and social parasites-- and his drivers license was revoked. Nonpartisan watch dog group CREW has named him one of the 14 most corrupt Members of Congress and last September a circuit court judge issued a preliminary ruling against Walsh in his contentious child-support dispute with his first wife, ordering Walsh to pay up and chastising his attorney for his refusal to appear in court. The judge also wanted to know why Walsh failed to appear. The attorney haughtily replied, "Mr. Walsh is a U.S. congressman" and, infuriated, the judge said, "Well, he’s no different than anyone else." Which is, after all, just what Walsh is always saying about himself. And that brings us to the 4th of July festivities.

True to character, Walsh, a dedicated warmonger, shirked military service. He's always seen it, like most Republican chickenhawks, as something that suckers do, not winners on their way to the top. On Sunday he disparaged his Democratic opponent, Tammy Duckworth, and her military service at a town hall meeting in Elk Grove. Let me just say that DWT doesn't support Duckworth. Politically, she's a product of the Rahm Emanuel Machine and a conservative New Dem to boot. But that doesn't mean we don't honor her sacrifice to the country-- and abhor Walsh's craven attacks against her for that very service! The man is an utter disgrace. And Duckworth, a double amputee who lost both legs piloting a Black Hawk helicopter in battle in Iraq, courageously dedicated her life since then to her fellow veterans, fighting for them every single day in both the Illinois and U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs. Yesterday she went right back at the unapologetic Walsh during an interview with MSNBC’s Martin Bashir.

"If anybody highlights my military service, it’s Mr. Walsh, who actually attacked it on a regular basis. Yes, my wounds do inform my discussions with the constituents when I talk about health care. I know very deeply in a deeply personal way what access to affordable health care means, so when he votes against Medicare for our seniors not once, but three times, he’s voting against the people of the district. So yes, I talk about the fact that had I not had the great health care that I have from the VA, I would probably be bankrupt and that’s why we need to make sure we preserve Medicare as we know it."

Calls for Walsh's resignation have been echoing across the nation all day. The nonpartisan VoteVets PAC went ballistic, and kicked off the demands that Walsh resign: "Joe Walsh’s disgust for our veterans’ sacrifices knows no bounds. First, he falsely and maliciously claims that Tammy Duckworth, a veteran who lost her legs in Iraq didn’t have much of a record of service. Now, he denigrates that same American hero for talking about how her experience shaped her worldview and strengthened her resolve to serve even more-– a conversation that isn’t just legitimate to have, but crucial as America charts its course domestically and internationally. This is a new low for this deadbeat dad. Telling a veteran to shut up on the 4th of July is beyond the pale. We are past the point of calling on Joe Walsh to apologize. He should step aside and stop embarrassing his district and America."

So where's Speaker John Boehner? Not a peep out of him-- at least not as of this writing. Is he on a bender of just avoiding a very sticky situation for himself? After all, it was Boehner who persuaded Walsh to give up a relatively safe seat and go after Duckworth. His initial instincts had been to primary weak GOP freshman Randy Hultgren-- their two districts were merged-- but Boehner dangled some cash ($3.5 million) under his nose. Boehner-- who is said to detest Walsh personally and view him as a clown and a distraction-- can make these kinds of promises because right-wing mobster Sheldon Adelson has given him $5 million to play around with in the upcoming election, money Adelson got from running a prostitution business in China. But how long will Boehner be able to hide before someone forces him to either stand behind his boy Walsh or denounce him for what he is?